Pull The Plug!

24 Apr 2019

Pull The Plug!

IT’S A GOOD THING I’M NOT AFRAID OF SNAKES or I would be exiled from the world of modern electronics and Social Media. Not that our little “Pied a Terre Haute” (that’s French for “My feet hurt.”) is the home to 45 rattlesnakes like that dude in Texas had in his home. No – I’m talking about all of the cords and cables that seem to be everywhere charging and connecting all of our phones, Kindles, and computers.

No matter where I turn I am constantly getting tangled up in those skinny little cords. One end is plugged into a wall socket or power strip and the other end is stuck into one of our electronic gizmos. Those little snakes have tripped me up as they lie in wait ready to pounce as I shuffle by. Ambushed I was!

I know that the technology is in place that is truly “wireless’ to charge various pieces of hardware. You just set your phone or whatever on the pad (that is itself plugged into a power source) and Presto-Electro! your things get recharged. It is neat, but aside from being a little costly, I know that I would eventually bump into the loaded up charging pad and send several hundred dollars worth of phones crashing to the floor.

“Honey, I think we need to go down to Best Buy again.”

Could someone please explain to me why there are different kinds of cords for different devices? Not the whole cords – just the plugs. I see no reason for that. The differences are strictly cosmetic I believe. This cannot be accidental.

Can we all say, “Let’s sell more unnecessary stuff?”

More than a hundred years ago Thomas Edison’s rival Nikola Tesla claimed that he could transmit electricity without wires. I don’t know if he could really do that or he was smoking something stronger than leftover salmon, but I look forward to the day that becomes a reality.

I’ve looked for cables and cords on Amazon and at the Dollar Store next to the Chinese restaurant down the block – and I can’t see any difference other than the price tag. I’ve purchased from both and all of the cords last just a few months before they crap out and stop working. The $9 cords are no better that the $1 cords so I go to the Dollar Store and stock up…and get some Raisinettes while I’m there.

I just purchased a portable power charger (from Amazon – the Dollar Store didn’t have them.) I figure it might come in handy while we are traveling. We are going to Ireland again this Fall and it might come in handy. I admit that it is yet another gizmo, but this one can be charged using the solar cells on the front. It would probably take six months to get a full charge, but I don’t have to plug it in anywhere.

I want that Tesla idea to catch on so I can throw back my head and gleefully yell “Pull the plug!”